Our first full day in Queensland and proved to be a hot one first thing. Andy was out at 6.15am getting his 10k run in the bag. With a new route to find, along with the heat of the day, it was a challenging start.

Thankfully the B&B did a fantastic job with breakfast with generous helpings of granola, fruit and yoghurts followed by cooked eggs and bacon on sourdough bread. What a treat and so very filling.

With the day starting earlier, we found ourselves down at Burleigh Heads beach by 9.30am and we soon got comfortable on the wide open sandy white beach that stretches for miles in either direction. Looking north you can see the Surfers Paradise skyline and to the south Palm Beach.

Lunch today was a meet up in Arundel the home of Bob & Diane a lovely Aussie couple we met on a cruise of the Whitsunday Islands back in Aug 2018. We’ve been saying we’d meet up ever since and at last we got the chance. Despite the 6yrs that have passed since we last met, we were quickly chattering away as a group, us telling them about our trip to date and they telling us all about their life in a retirement village Seachange directly opposite the Arundel Tavern where we had a great lunch.

Bob and Diane have been together for over 57yrs and a shining example of what a caring couple should be. So loving and caring and good fun to be around. Post lunch we got a tour of the Seachange and marvelled at the wonderful facilities they have, it’s like a hotel spa with all the sports facilities you could ask for and more. We then went back to their house for drinks and got a further tour of their wonderful home and drinks cabinet! After a great few hours catching up with them, we said our goodbyes and headed to the coast to visit Southport and Broadwater beaches.

The sun was in full glow so we found a good spot on the sand and dozed/read and took in the scenery including the nearby Seaworld Helicopters that were constantly coming in and out as well as the Versace Hotel (famed for being the place where the contestants from I’m a Celebrity…stay!)

When the clouds descended we decided to go for a walk along the Esplanade and went past Gold Coast Aquatic Centre and the Aqua Park.

As the afternoon came to a close we drove a few miles along the Esplanade to central Surfers Paradise and went on the beach and for a wander around the main pedestrian centre which was awash with Aussie holidaymakers shopping & eating and drinking!

As the evening wore on, we went back down to the beach to marvel at the wonderful white sand and the incredibly tall high-rises that appear on the ‘SP’ sky line.

It goes dark earlier in Queensland, often by 7.15pm, so by then there was little option but to drive back to our B&B.

Once back, we dinned on another Coles salad and pasta offer before we started to pack for our drive down to Byron Bay tomorrow and our stay in Ballina for the next couple of nights.